This application claims the priority of German application No. 198 09 064.1, filed Mar. 4, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a control device for a vehicle having two roofs; a first roof which is permanently attached to the vehicle and a second roof, which can be removed from the vehicle.
Such a combination of two roofs is, for example, present in a convertible vehicle having a folding top, in which the two roofs are complementary, i.e., without switching the roofs, a hardtop roof can be mounted. In such a vehicle, it is important to assure that the control device cannot operate the first roof when the second roof is mounted.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the invention to provide an arrangement which prevents actuation of the first roof when the second roof is mounted, while incurring limited structural costs.
This and other objects and advantages is achieved by the device according to the invention, by providing a transmitter which is attached to a locking mechanism which serves as a releasable connection with the windshield frame of the vehicle for both roofs, and sends a signal when the locking mechanism is in a locked position. In addition, a second transmitter which sends a signal when the first roof is open is provided. If both signals are present at the same time the control device suppresses the actuation of the first roof.
In any event, the two transmitters are already present in the vehicle, and are used by the control device to operate the first roof when the second roof has been removed from the vehicle. As a result, the invention can be realized without any additional structural cost.
In general, the invention is based on the idea of recognizing when the second roof is mounted on the vehicle, by creating a situation in which a non-plausible condition of the transmitters exists for the first roof: that is, the first roof cannot be completely open (although the second transmitter's signal indicates that this condition is present), and at the same time be connected by a locking mechanism with the frame of the windshield (the first transmitter's signal indicates that this condition is also present).
In this manner, the control device additionally controls the actuation devices, if both transmitters send a signal simultaneously. As a result, the type of control of additional actuation devices can be made to depend upon whether or not the second roof is mounted. Further operational installations are, for example, window lifters for the side windows of the vehicle. When the second roof is mounted, these side windows have a different functional range than when the first roof is down and the second, mounted roof is not present. Thus, in case of an open first roof, the rear side windows can no longer be closed and therefore remain in a completely lowered position, i.e., after they have been lowered completely during the opening of the first roof. Alternatively, it is possible to not allow the rear side windows to be raised above the height of the front side windows. A further alternative is to simultaneously operate the front and rear side windows when the first roof is down. However, when a mounted second roof is detected (for this condition the first roof is also completely open), all side windows, independently of each other, can be moved into any desired position.
An additional functional range which is controlled by the opening position, concerns the positional control of the side window; because there is no backstop for the upward movement of the side windows when the first roof is down, the terminus of the side windows must be determined during closing via a positional transmitter. In the case of the detected, mounted second roof, however, the side windows can be moved until they rest against the seal; the terminus of the side windows is determined during closing via a load recognition on the part of the window lifter.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.